


Agents of the ARC

by ebonyandunicorn



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Primeval
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 03:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonyandunicorn/pseuds/ebonyandunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Phil Coulson's SHIELD team head to England to investigate a sighting of an unidentified creature and a strange portal, they find a group of people calling themselves the ARC that seem to know all about it. Though the partnership formed between the two is uneasy at first, they gradually discover that fighting dinosaurs and fighting supervillains aren't so dissimilar, and maybe their teams aren't as different as they first thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set pre-Convergence in the Primeval timeline, at an as-yet-unspecified time in the AoS timeline. I've no idea yet how long this fic will end up or what the plot/pairings will turn out to be (I haven't been shipping Becker/Ward since the pilot of AoS, nope nope)... so, much like our friends at the ARC and SHIELD, be prepared for anything! Happy reading!

The "bus" made no sound as it carved a gentle path through British airspace under the capable touch of Melinda May and the watchful eye of Phil Coulson. The rest of the team were seated loosely around tables in the common, having their ears talked off by Simmons. "I just can't believe you're all coming to England with me!" she exclaimed for at least the fourth time. "I mean, I guess we were in the area after the last mission, but I never thought I'd get an assignment in my home country so soon. Imagine, an unidentified species _and_ some kind of weird portal just outside of London... It's practically right in my backyard!"

"Maybe after we've dealt with whatever this is, we can go visit your folks for tea," Fitz joked, a slight smile on his face despite the heavy sarcasm in his tone.

"Ooh, they'd love that," Simmons enthused. She glanced eagerly over at Grant, who was cleaning one of his guns and doing his best to block out the inane chatter. "Ward, do you think we could –"

"No."

Jemma looked crestfallen for a moment, then perked up. "Oh well. Maybe –"

The door hissed quietly as Agent Coulson entered the common, and Simmons fell silent instantly. "We land in an hour," Coulson reported.

"Thank God," Ward muttered under his breath.

"Any progress, Skye?" Coulson asked, choosing to ignore Grant's comment.

Skye had her laptop open on the table in front of her. "Nothing," she answered, not bothering to look up from the screen. "The net's been completely scrubbed clean. No mention of strange creatures or portals anywhere near the site – or in the UK at all. Even photos of Nessie take a bit of hunting to find. Whatever this stuff is, someone's trying to hide it."

Ward rolled his eyes. "Another one of your government cover-ups, Skye?"

The girl glared across at him. "I'm serious!" she said insistently, holding the glare a moment longer before looking back to her screen. "Every country's got more than its fair share of cryptozoologist wack-jobs who think they're one blurry photo away from discovering the next Bigfoot, but England? _Nothing_. It doesn't make any..."

Three short beeps emanating from her laptop cut Skye off. "Wait a minute," she said, leaning closer to the screen and tapping a quick command. "I got something. Some... blogger from London." Ward made a disparaging noise in his throat, but Skye didn't bother to glare this time. "Conspiracy theorist... Shut up, Ward. He mentions these things called... _anomalies_?"

"Anomalies?" Fitz asked, jumping up to read eagerly over Skye's shoulder. Simmons and Coulson, too, took several steps closer to peer at the screen. "What're they?"

"Looks like the portal we got told about," Skye answered. "Only apparently there's more than one of them. And... holy wow." Skye's mouth fell open, incredulity clear on her face as she continued to read. " _Dinosaurs_ ," she breathed, her eyes wide. "Either the guy's smoking something, or this mission just got a whole lot crazier."

\---

Exactly fifty-eight minutes later, landing at the small private SHIELD airport just outside of London came and went, miraculously without incident. Agent Coulson's team piled into their cars and set off to the location where one of their British agents had reported the strange sightings... before her message had been suddenly and forebodingly cut short. On the drive there, Fitz and Skye were treated to a repeat briefing of what they knew from Coulson and continued to read from the blog Skye had found. Ward and May, though, had drawn the short straw, and were instead subjected to a narration of their tour of the English countryside by Simmons.

Though the drive might have felt hours long to Agent Ward, it was only twenty minutes before the cars came to a halt at a certain point outside a long, thick copse of trees. The team quickly spilled out of the cars, Fitz and Simmons laden with gear, Ward's hand resting on the butt of his gun. Three black cars had already pulled up at the spot; Coulson went over to investigate, but they were empty.

"Tourists, maybe?" Fitz suggested.

Ward shook his head. "These are serious vehicles," he said. "Whoever these people are, they're here for the same reason as us. Whatever that is." He gestured towards the trees; a rough path had been torn through them, branches shoved violently aside.

"They went that way?" Simmons asked.

Ward nodded. "Yes. But –"

"But that path wasn't made by humans," Coulson finished.

Fitz and Simmons exchanged glances. Skye took a deep breath.

"Dinosaurs," she said again, following the rest of the team as they entered the trees.

\---

They didn't get far.

"Stop there!"

It was a man who had shouted: fair hair, dusting of stubble, Irish accent. He carried a weapon in one hand – some kind of strange gun – and he was coming towards them at a run from where the path through the trees ended in a clearing. Coulson stepped forward to meet him, Ward a step behind with his gun drawn.

"My name is Agent Phil Coulson," the agent said before the other man could speak. "I’m here on a matter of national security. I believe you and your men may be in danger." In the clearing behind the fair-haired stranger, a number of other men and women were gathered. There were pieces of tech scattered around them; Fitz's eyes were wide as he unashamedly stood on his toes to get a better look.

"I believe you are correct," the man said mildly. "There is danger here, but we're dealing with it." Another man, all in black, detached himself from the group and jogged over. "My name's Matt Anderson," the fair-haired man continued. "We've got it under control. It'd be best if your group went back the way you came."

"I don't think so," Ward said aggressively.

"Trouble, Matt?" the black-clad man asked at the same time.

The two of them, Agent Ward and the unfamiliar man in black, looked at each other. Both had their hands on their guns and unfriendly expressions on their faces.

"Becker," the stranger introduced himself shortly.

"Ward," was the equally terse reply. "Who are you people?"

"We're the expects," Becker said flatly. "So if you and your motley crew want to –"

"Experts?" Skye interrupted. "How do you become _experts_ in dinosaur hunting?"

Matt Anderson blinked, the first hint of expression on his otherwise impassive face. "Who said anything about dinosaurs?" he asked.

There was a roar.

\---

Fitz screamed like a girl.

A gigantic beast had burst into the clearing. It was taller than every man there, its enormous mouth wide enough to swallow a person to the waist. Becker and Matt turned and sprinted towards the clearing, followed by Coulson, May, Ward and – after a moment's hesitation – the rest of the team. As they reached the end of the path through the trees and entered the clearing proper, the six newcomers had to pause to take in the scene. Off to one side, some kind of humming portal was floating in midair, surrounded by unfamiliar tech. There were people scattered all around the clearing – several soldiers with strange guns raised, others that looked more like civilians – but no sign of the SHIELD agent who had raised the alarm. And in the centre, thrashing its tail, was a creature that could only be described as a dinosaur.

"Get back!" Becker shouted and, at the sound of his voice, the SHIELD team sprung into action. Ward pulled his pistol from his belt and dropped to the back of their group, throwing his arms out to stop Skye, Fitz and Simmons from getting any closer to the beast; May, who had been bringing up the rear, grabbed the backs of their shirts to do the same. Coulson, too, pulled his gun and aimed it at the creature, though he didn't pull the trigger.

"No!" Matt shouted, seeing their upraised weapons. "No lethal force!" He aimed his own strange gun at the dinosaur; it let forth a burst of blue light that caused the creature to scream in rage when it hit, but otherwise had no obvious effect.

Becker had fired his own weapon almost simultaneously, but this blue pulse was equally ineffective. It only succeeded in enraging the creature; a swing of its enormous tail sent one of the soldiers flying, his weapon wheeling through the air.

"Your pea-shooters aren't working," Ward objected, raising his pistol and taking aim at the creature's head – only to have it smacked down by the soldier, Becker. "What the hell?" Ward snarled, barely managing to keep his grip on the gun.

"No lethal force," Becker hissed, echoing Matt's words. "If we kill that creature, the repercussions could be disastrous."

"What are you planning to do?" Coulson demanded. "Tell it to sit?"

Becker flicked a switch on his gun. "We'll just have to use the highest –"

The creature gave another roar, but this one was closer to a scream, and clearly of pain. A blue fizz of light passed briefly over its body before dissipating. The dinosaur's eyes rolled up in its head and it swayed for a moment before it crashed to the ground, its enormous mouth landing only feet away from Becker and Ward.

Over the body of the creature, Melinda May met the soldier's eye. "Highest setting?" she finished, lowering the gun of the soldier who had been sent flying by the creature's tail.

Skye let out a sigh of stunned relief. "Holy wow."

\---

Whoever these people were, they clearly had a routine to follow. The creature was swiftly injected with a tranquiliser and bundled into a truck that they'd somehow managed to get into the clearing. Under the watchful eye of a woman with short blonde hair, one of the other soldiers was preparing to drive it through the portal, which they referred to as an anomaly. The soldier who'd been hit by the creature's tail was being attended to by a lady with long, curly brown hair, while the strange tech in front of the anomaly was being watched over by a young man in fingerless gloves. Becker was debriefing the rest of the soldiers, which left Matt to speak to the SHIELD team.

"Well, it's obvious you're not an amateur group," Coulson began, watching the clean-up out of one eye. "At the very least, you don't seem surprised at the sudden appearance of a dinosaur in twenty-first century England."

"Neither do you," Matt replied coolly.

Coulson shrugged. "I've seen worse."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"I told you. Agent Phil Coulson." The SHIELD leader hesitated for a moment, then went on: "I'm a member of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Or SHIELD, if, like most people, you prefer to introduce yourself without having to take a breath in the middle."

Folding his arms, Matt nodded slowly. "You're the guys behind the Battle of New York."

"The guys behind the _clean-up_ of the Battle of New York," Coulson corrected. "But yes, that’s us. We've told you who we are. Now it's your turn."

"All right." Matt nodded again. "We're from the Anomaly Research Centre, or the ARC. We have convenient acronyms in common, at least." He and Coulson smiled; Skye, May and Ward did not. "We deal with this sort of thing on a weekly basis," Matt went on. "The anomalies –" he gestured towards the portal in the air "– open up, seemingly at random, and sometimes they let through a creature from whichever era's on the other side. It's our job to find it, capture it, and send it back again."

"Era?" said Coulson.

"Why send it back?" Ward asked at the same time.

Matt hesitated. "Look," he began, "I really shouldn't be telling any of you this. I think it'd be best if the four of you came back to the ARC with me and spoke to James Lester, in case –"

"Four?" Skye interrupted. She glanced over her shoulder. "Where's FitzSimmons?"

\---

"Oh wow," Simmons was saying.

"Oh wow," Fitz agreed.

The two had broken away from the rest of the SHIELD team and slowly, quietly made their way over to the anomaly. The ARC members around them were busy with their own tasks, so they'd been able to get quite close. "A time portal," Fitz breathed. "Do you even realise how many of the laws of physics this –"

"Hey!" The shout came from the young guy with the fingerless gloves; he'd finished with his tech, stood up, and spotted the two of them. "What're you doing?" he demanded, quickly jogging over. "Don't get too close – something else could come through at any second!"

Simmons obediently took a few steps back, dragging the reluctant Fitz by the elbow. "Sorry," she said. "It's just... That's a time portal!"

The young man nodded. "Yep, it is," he agreed, a geeky smile claiming his face for a moment before he forced himself to be serious again. "And it's really dangerous. So don't get too close. And you didn't hear that from me," he added quickly. "That it's a time portal, I mean."

"So that's an anomaly, then," Simmons mused. "It fits. With, you know, the dinosaur."

The man frowned. "Wait a minute – you know about the anomalies? Who are you people?"

"Leo Fitz," the young agent introduced himself, finally tearing his gaze away from the anomaly. "This is Jemma Simmons. I'm engineering, she's biochem. Among, um, other things."

"Connor Temple," the other man replied guardedly. "How d'you guys know about the anomalies, then?"

"Fitz! Simmons!" At Ward's shout, the young SHIELD agents exchanged a guilty glance. Ward, Skye, May and Coulson jogged over to them, all looking disapproving. It was Ward who let them have it, though. "Do you two have no regard for personal safety at all?" he demanded. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to run off on your own in an unfamiliar situation like this?"

"But Ward –" Fitz began.

"He's right," Coulson said firmly. "This is an unfamiliar situation, and we need to find out why." They all looked at him. "SHIELD should have been informed of this the moment the problem arose," he went on. "Instead, it looks like a whole organisation has been set up to deal with it, _without_ our knowledge. They're called the ARC," he explained to Simmons and Fitz. "The Anomaly Research Centre. We're going there now – _all_ of us," he added insistently, as Fitz cast a longing glance over towards the anomaly. "We need to know exactly what this is about. We need to know just how much has been kept from us, and why."


	2. Chapter 2

After a brief, quiet discussion between Matt, Coulson, and May, Matt led the SHIELD team away from the clearing and stopped by one of the black cars. "I'll drive ahead," he told them. "Just follow me." He named the approximate address of their destination – "Ooh, I've never been to that part of London before!" Simmons chirped – and then swung open the door. 

"How do we know you're not leading us away somewhere to lock us up or take us out?" Skye demanded. Hearing Ward's short sigh, she turned to glare at him. "What? They're an organisation of secret soldiers who just tranquillised a _T. rex_. Don't think they can't do it." 

"Actually, it was a _Carcharodontosaurus_ ," Matt corrected mildly. "They're bigger." 

"Whatever." 

"And, I promise, all I'm going to do is direct you to the ARC. It's your choice whether or not you follow me, but I assure you, it's the only place you're going to get the answers you want." With that, he climbed into the car and shut the door. 

Skye folded her arms, but followed Coulson back to their vehicles. They all clambered into one car; looking around, Skye realised how they could fit. "Where's Agent May?" 

"She stayed behind to ask about Agent Hale," Coulson replied, naming the SHIELD agent who had first reported the strange sightings but hadn't been heard from since. "She'll catch us up." 

Skye nodded and was quiet at last, but she couldn't help reflecting on the fact that this left Ward and Coulson alone protecting the three young techies in the team. It wasn't that she didn't have trust in the men; she just would have liked to have had as much protection as possible, considering they were going into the secret base of an organisation that tranquillised dinosaurs for a living. 

Coulson drove. It was a short trip, but that didn't keep FitzSimmons from driving Ward half to despair with their incessant chatter. "Do you think the anomalies are a product of alien tech?" "Or something more close to home – like the Schumann resonances, maybe!" "Could you imagine the samples you could attain from that creature? Soft tissue, dirt in its claws –" "– bacteria and parasites, blood and other body fluids –" "How long do you think they've been appearing?" "How many animals d'you reckon have secretly come through?" "Do you think this could be the explanation for the gaps in the evolutionary record?" 

"Enough!" Ward shouted finally. All eyes but Coulson's turned on him in surprise. "Simmons, Fitz," he said firmly, "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation here. We're dealing with the possibility of a serious threat on several levels. There could be dozens of these portals – hundreds – each of which could let through any number of deadly agents. Dangerous creatures. Toxic gases. Plague. And worst of all, before today, SHIELD didn't know a thing about this. How are we supposed to protect people from it if there's another organisation keeping it a secret from us?" 

They were all quiet after that, and soon the black car in front of them was making a sudden turn into an underground carpark. Ward's fingers were tapping erratically on the hilt of his pistol as Coulson guided their car in after Matt's. They parked facing the exit in case they needed to make a fast getaway, then got slowly out of the car. 

Matt Anderson was waiting for them by a door, hands casually in his pockets. As they approached, he held his wrist out to a panel in the wall beside the door. "Some kind of ID bracelet," Simmons whispered as the door slid open. 

"Probably links physical data with security clearance, making it impossible to copy or fake," Fitz muttered in return. 

"Shut up," Ward hissed. 

Skye hid a smile behind her hand. 

Matt made no indication that he had heard any of the banter. He led the team down a hallway to an elevator, which they rode in silence. It made no sound as it slowed and opened, and Matt stepped out first, then gestured for them all to follow. 

"Welcome to the ARC." 

Skye gave a low whistle and Fitz's eyes almost fell out of his head. Before them was an open room that was clearly the base for a serious operation. Several benches were piled high with computers, papers, and other bits of equipment, while screens all around showed radar and satellite images of locations all over the UK. Doors off to the side led to numerous other rooms that could have contained anything. As the team speechlessly took in everything in front of them, Ward's words were repeating themselves over and over in Skye's head: _SHIELD didn't know a thing about this. How are we supposed to protect people from it?_

"Welcome back, Matt!" A young woman was sitting in a chair in front of a many-monitored piece of technology in the centre of the room. She spun around in the chair and stood, clasping her hands neatly in front of her. "Lester's still on the phone. He said it was important; I think it's the Minister. Why don't you introduce us in the meantime?" She beamed at the SHIELD team and skipped over. The bright colours of her clothes stood out in the dim, serious room. 

"Ah, of course," Matt answered. "Jess Parker, this is Agent Phil Coulson. Phil Coulson, this is Jessica Parker, our field co-ordinator." 

" _Agent_ Phil Coulson?" Jess asked sharply. "Are you one of those SHIELD people?" 

"I – yes," Coulson replied. If he was surprised at how perceptive the girl was, he didn't show it. 

Her gaze slid from him to Matt. "Do they want in on our work now?" 

He shrugged. "I know nothing, Jess. They were sent to the clearing by SHIELD because one of their agents on the ground had sent out a distress signal. As far as I'm aware, that was the first they'd heard of the anomalies." 

"Which is strange," Coulson finished. "But, yes, that's all we know. One of our agents reported the appearance of a strange portal and an unidentified, hostile creature." 

"But there was no-one in the clearing when you got there," Jess said. 

"No, there wasn't," Matt answered. "But there was no blood, no bullets, and no body either. Whatever your agent was doing in the clearing, he didn't stay long. It's almost as if he vanished." 

\--- 

"You're sure there was no-one here when you arrived?" May asked for the second time. 

"Certain," Becker replied tightly. "Look, either your agent got scared and ran, or he was unfortunately killed. If he was hiding in the trees, he would have surely come out and said hello by n –" 

"Agents of SHIELD don't get scared and run," May snapped. She looked around the clearing, but there were only soldiers mixed in with the odd civilian, nobody who looked like an agent of SHIELD. "But there's no evidence of a struggle, either. No body. Agent Hale must be here somewhere." 

"Look," Becker sighed, frustration clear in the single word, "unless your agent is working undercover at the ARC, if you insist he didn't run, then I'm afraid he is dead. There's just nowhere else he could..." 

The remainder of his words were cut off in the roar of the truck's engine starting up. May and Becker turned to watch as, carrying its precious prehistoric cargo, it rumbled towards the shimmering portal in the centre of the clearing and suddenly disappeared. 

"Oh," they said as one. 

\--- 

Matt and Jess both flinched in unison as the comms units in their ears exploded simultaneously. Jess closed her bright-pink nails over the device and walked quickly back to her chair. "Slow down, Becker," she said soothingly, typing a command quickly into one of several keyboards. "You've... What? Are you sure?" 

"Wait until Abby and Bailey get back," Matt cut in, a hand also to his ear. The SHIELD team looked on in complete confusion. "If they saw anything, send in a team. No, not her. On no account is she to go through the – what?" 

\--- 

"I said, too late!" Becker practically shouted, both hands clenched into fists as he stared hopelessly at the anomaly. "She ran through as soon as she figured it out." 

Connor was behind him, his mouth open as he gaped at the anomaly through which Agent May had just disappeared. "What are we going to do?" 

\--- 

"All right, all right!" Matt sighed. "Becker, take Watson and Vaughn and go in after them. Bring her back as soon as you can. Connor, get the locking device ready to go. The moment our people are back with Agent May, I want that anomaly closed." 

He let his hand fall from his ear and faced Agent Coulson with an expression that was far from cordial. "I'll admit it, I'm impressed," he said softly. "When you first turned up, I thought maybe you could be trouble somewhere down the line, but I had no idea you'd make this much mess so soon." 

"What exactly is going on?" Skye demanded. 

"I think I'd like to know the same thing." 

That was a new voice, one that didn't belong to any member of the SHIELD team, or to any of the ARC members to which they'd been introduced. A man in a dark suit and brightly-coloured tie had entered from a door on the side of the large room. "Matt?" he went on, his tone clipped. "Is there something you need to tell me?" 

Matt cleared his throat. "Several things," he muttered, then went on in his normal voice, "We'll start with the introductions. This is Agent Phil Coulson, of SHIELD. Agent Coulson, this is –" 

"Agent James Lester," the man said. "Also of SHIELD. Clearance level 8."


	3. Chapter 3

"Plot twist." Skye grinned. 

The other members of the team – both teams – didn't seem quite so amused. Ward looked suspicious until Lester wordlessly presented an ID badge. Fitz and Simmons wore identical grins as they beheld yet another level 8 agent. Coulson and Matt also looked comically similar, though their expressions were more of shock. Both of them simultaneously opened their mouths, but it was Jess, all the way from her chair, who spoke first. 

"There wasn't anything about _that_ in your file!" 

For a moment, Lester looked almost embarrassed. "Yes, well, that's sort of the point of being undercover, Jess," he said. The girl rolled her eyes at him and swivelled her chair so that she was facing her monitors again, but not before she'd fixed her boss with a look that said, _We're going to talk about this later_. 

Lester cleared his throat and turned back to the others. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Agent Coulson," he said, extending his hand. "I've heard very great things about you." 

"Thank you, Agent Lester." Coulson shook Lester's hand. The ARC leader-turned-agent's grip was uncompromisingly firm, and the message was clear: he was in charge. 

"I've just been on the phone with Director Fury," Lester went on. "It seems that the incursion this morning was called in by one of our other agents on the ground." 

"Incursion?" Ward interrupted. 

Lester looked at him for the first time and Ward met his gaze defiantly for a second before reluctantly backing down. "Sorry, sir." 

"What's your name?" Lester asked. 

"Agent Grant Ward, sir." 

Lester nodded. "Of course. This is Agent Coulson's team. Again, I've heard... things." He omitted the _great_ this time, but went on without explanation: "An incursion is the term used when an anomaly opens and a creature is allowed to come through. Usually, the ARC is able to get it under control before any other divisions of SHIELD must be called in, but it seems that Agent Hale was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." 

"Wait," Skye interrupted. "So you're saying that SHIELD's known about these things all along?" 

"SHIELD knows everything," Lester replied simply. "Whatever the situation, someone in the organisation will have it under control. In this instance, the Anomaly Project is under the command of a select few Level 8 agents, plus junior members chosen on an individual basis to staff the various Anomaly Research Centres." 

Skye, Fitz, and Simmons together looked at Matt. 

"Except," Lester went on, "at this ARC. The first anomaly known to SHIELD opened up in the Forest of Dean and was encountered by a civilian team. As a result, the UK branch of the ARC is unique: it is the only branch to contain civilian members working alongside undercover SHIELD agents." 

"Does Director Fury approve?" Coulson asked. 

For the first time, the barest hint of a smile appeared on Lester's face. "Not exactly," he replied. "But I can vouch for every member of my team. They're just as capable as any agent. In fact..." His gaze strayed briefly to Jess, whose beaming smile told them she was clearly listening to every word he said even as she typed furiously. "Working with civilians has been surprisingly... enjoyable." 

"Lester," Matt cut in, "we can all sit down together and have a heart-to-heart later, believe me, but right now we have a situation on our hands. One of the agents went through the anomaly in pursuit of the one who first called it in." 

"Agent May," Coulson said. 

Ward's hand reflexively twitched towards his gun. "We should go after her." 

"You're staying right here," Matt said. 

"Oh yeah?" Ward retorted. "On whose orders?" 

" _Mine._ " For the first time, Lester's voice had the commanding tones of a senior SHIELD agent. Ward backed down instantly, though he didn't look happy about it. "Agent Coulson," Lester went on in a quieter voice, "one of the first things you will learn about the anomalies is that they are extremely dangerous, and not just because of the creatures that can come through. They represent holes in the fabric of spacetime, and meddling with them can cause all kinds of unwanted consequences." Briefly he paused before continuing, "We must at all times minimise the number of people who go near one, let alone through it. My team can take care of Agent May." 

\--- 

Far, far away, millions of years in the past, Agent May was, in fact, taking care of herself. 

The shimmering portal through time and space had led her to a flat, windy stretch of land, sparsely dotted with unfamiliar plant life. Directly in front of her, two civilians from the ARC – a black-clad soldier and a young woman with white-blonde hair – were undertaking the short but difficult process of setting an enormous dinosaur free into its natural habitat. It was a task that required their full attention, so May easily avoided being spotted. She began to silently run away from the anomaly, still holding the gun from the fallen ARC soldier. 

Looking around, May couldn't immediately see anywhere that a SHIELD agent might hide. There weren't even any good-sized trees in the nearby vicinity. The only thing that really stood out was a large hill several hundred metres away, in the opposite direction from the anomaly to the truck. Keeping one eye on the ARC members in case they spotted her, May ran for the hill. 

She reached it quickly enough and ran around it, putting it between her and the anomaly so that the ARC team had less of a chance of spotting her. The other side of the hill was shielded from the high winds, but it was still almost completely devoid of foliage. Indeed, to the untrained eye, this side of the hill was just as bare as the other. 

A trained eye like May's, on the other hand, could easily spot the thin grey line that gave away the camo pouch. 

"Agent Hale," she said in a low voice, approaching the camo pouch. "My name is Agent Melinda May. I'm here to get you out." 

There was nothing but silence in reply for a few moments, then the grey line began to disappear as the pouch was unzipped. Inside the sleeping bag-like piece of stealth tech, a female agent held a pistol in her free hand. She aimed it at May until the older agent crouched, placing her gun on the ground for Agent Hale to see and holding out her SHIELD ID. 

"Thank God," Agent Hale gasped, struggling into a sitting position. Her skin was flecked with dirt and scratches, and as she threw the camo pouch off, May could see that her ankle was badly swollen. "Twisted it running away from the dinosaur," Hale explained. "Only reason I'm hiding here. I don't usually run for the hills in the middle of a mission – no pun intended. Agent Holly Hale, by the way." 

"Glad I found you, Agent Hale. Can you walk?" 

The younger agent grimaced. "Only slowly," she replied, shuffling out of the camo pouch. "If another dinosaur turned up, I wouldn't be able to get away." 

"Hopefully that won't happen," May answered. 

Right at that moment, of course, it did. 

\--- 

"Becker's gone through the anomaly after her," Matt told Lester. "Watson and Vaughn went with him. Connor's said there's no sign of the magnetic field weakening yet, but knowing our luck, I wouldn't be surprised if they were trapped on the other side." 

"Magnetic field weakening?" Fitz and Simmons chorused. 

"Trapped?" Skye and Ward asked at the same time. 

Matt's gaze moved over each of the junior SHIELD agents before settling on Coulson. "The anomalies are some kind of magnetic force," he said. "We don't know exactly how they work, but they emit a powerful magnetic field, which is the only clue we have to tell us how long it will be before the anomaly closes again. It's not always reliable, either. Realistically, that anomaly could close at any time." 

"See! Magnetic. I told you," Fitz whispered triumphantly to Simmons. 

"You did not!" Simmons hissed. "You said they might have something to do with the Schumann resonances, which are _electromagnetic_ , and have way more to do with lightning anyway –" 

"Well, it was closer than your guess about aliens." 

"And who said aliens don't have some kind of magnetic technology that could –" 

"Enough!" Ward yelled. "Matt. Can't you ARC people prevent the anomaly from closing somehow until May gets back? Didn't you say the kid – Connor – had some kind of closing device? Can't it reopen anomalies, too?" 

"Locking, not closing," Matt corrected. "We can temporarily seal off the anomaly if we need to. The locking process is reversible, but a closure is not. If it disappears naturally, there's nothing we can do to bring it back again." 

"How likely is it that the anomaly will close?" Coulson asked. 

"We don't know," Matt replied. "It's happened before, though. It's not a regular occurrence, but it wouldn't be the first time. We just can't be sure." 

"And if it closes..." Skye began. 

"They'll be stuck there." 

"For how long?" That from FitzSimmons. 

"It's impossible to say." Fitz and Simmons exchanged nervous glances; Matt noticed. "My team will do whatever they can to make sure that your agent gets back safe," he said. "Try not to worry. Becker's as capable as they come." 

\--- 

As pissed as they come, more like. 

This was supposed to be a routine mission. Go in, tranquillise a dinosaur, ship it home, and shut the door behind it. Then these SHIELD guys had to arrive and screw up the whole thing, and now they'd had to launch an emergency excursion through an unstable anomaly. If this agent got them stuck on the other side, Becker was going to kill her. 

With Watson and Vaughn behind him, he quickly jogged over to Abby and Bailey at the truck. The enormous unconscious dinosaur had been shifted onto its home soil. Abby, checking it one last time, looked up at Becker's footsteps. "Becker? What's going on?" 

"One of the agents ran through after you," he replied, almost having to shout over the wind. "The older woman with the attitude... and the good aim. Did you see her?" 

Abby shook her head. "No. But we don't have long. The tranquilliser I gave was short-acting." She gestured towards the unconscious dinosaur and stood up. 

"And the anomaly could close at any minute." Becker gave a short sigh and began to scan the area. "Behind the hill," he said instantly. "Watson, Vaughn, you're with me. Bailey and Abby, stay here and yell if there's any change with the anomaly or the dinosaur." At Abby's nod, the three men jogged quickly in the direction of the hill that provided the only cover they could see. 

They weren't even halfway there before an enormous roar shattered the air. 

Becker's gun was up and pointing before the sound had faded. It had come from the other side of the hill. "Come on!" he shouted, increasing his pace to a sprint. They couldn't see the dinosaur behind the hill, but Becker guessed from the sound of its cry that it was the same species as the unconscious one behind them – which meant enormous and dangerous. 

When they were ten metres from the hill, two figures appeared from behind it. One was the female agent who had shot the dinosaur with a borrowed EMD. The other was also a woman, though unfamiliar and evidently injured. "Vaughn, help her!" Becker shouted. "Watson, with me. We'll cover them." 

They slowed to a stop with their guns up as Vaughn continued to sprint towards the women. Just as he caught up to them, the second dinosaur appeared from behind the hill. It was the same species as the other, but – impossibly – even bigger. "Why are they always angry?" Vaughn asked rhetorically. "Why couldn't they ever greet us with a friendly smile instead of a murderous rage?" 

The injured agent laughed, though the older one did not. "Let's just get out of here," she said flatly. "You –" she fixed Vaughn with a glare "– get Agent Hale home. And you, Becker... make sure your gun is on the right setting this time." 

He opened his mouth to make an angry retort, but she was already turning to face the approaching dinosaur. Planting her feet firmly, she fired three shots at the creature's head. All three made contact within a foot of each other, square in the middle of its forehead. For all that, the creature barely slowed. 

"We should get outta here," Watson urged. 

Becker quickly glanced over his shoulder. Vaughn had Agent Hale in his arms and was jogging slowly towards the anomaly, but it would still be a few moments before he got there. "We need to hold it off for a little longer," he said, firing two angry pulses from his EMD at the creature's enormous leg. It stumbled a little but managed to regain its balance. 

"You know this would work better if you used real guns," the older agent pointed out. 

"No, it wouldn't, but we can talk about that later." Another glance over his shoulder revealed that Vaughn was almost back at the anomaly. Bailey had the truck ready to go, while Abby was waiting anxiously at the back, waving for Becker to hurry up. "You two," he said to Watson and the agent, "start heading back. I'll join you in a second." Sending the agent's hesitation, he wasted a crucial second glaring at her. "Go!" 

The dinosaur seemed almost invincible to EMD pulses. The ground beneath his feet was beginning to shake. Becker fired two more shots before he began to run, casting anxious looks back over his shoulder at the dinosaur in pursuit. "Go through!" he shouted, waving his hands at the cluster of people around the anomaly. He could see the portal beginning to flicker and fade. 

He was a hundred metres from the truck, now fifty. Watson, Vaughn, and the agents had disappeared through the anomaly. "Becker, come on!" Abby yelled, jumping into the back of the truck. Its engine was almost drowned out by the roar of the dinosaur behind him. The anomaly was almost gone. 

"Go, go!" Becker shouted. The tyres of the truck squealed as Bailey floored the accelerator. Abby stretched out her hand to grab Becker's and pull him into the back of the truck, then yanked the door closed behind him. The last thing they saw through the gap was the enormous dinosaur with its jaws opened wide, and then the shimmer of the anomaly as they sped through.


	4. Chapter 4

"Close it!" they screamed. 

As the truck squealed to a halt on the other side of the anomaly Becker held his breath, but after a few moments had passed and they heard no sign of the dinosaur, he held his EMD ready and slowly pushed open the door. The anomaly had been safely closed by Connor's device and was shimmering innocently several metres away. Becker let out a relieved sigh and hopped down from the back of the truck, holding up a hand to help Abby after him. 

"Abby! Are you okay?" Connor was hurrying up to them, anxiety written clear across his face. 

"I'm fine, Con." They hugged quickly before walking around the truck to the two SHIELD agents: the older standing with her arms folded, watching the younger one's ankle being seen to by Emily Merchant. 

"Probably a bad sprain," she was saying. "You should come back to the ARC with us, both of you. That's where Matt's taken the rest of your group." 

"That's exactly where they're going," Becker said, in a tone that brooked no argument. "Connor, you, Watson, and Vaughn stay and watch over the anomaly unless it's closed. Hopefully you won't get any trouble... especially since these agents will be out of your way." He took a moment to glare at the one still on her feet before continuing. "The rest of you, back with me. I don't know what Lester's going to think about all of this, but I'm sure he's not going to be happy." 

\--- 

"All right," Lester said. "So now that we've all managed to make it into the same room without getting anybody killed, I think it's time we all got better acquainted." 

They were all back at the ARC, except for the rear guard who had stayed behind to keep watch over the anomaly. Most of them were seated around a large conference table, the ARC members and the SHIELD agents eyeing one another warily. The exception was Jess, who had remained at the computer. Ward and Becker had chosen not to take seats in the room, instead leaning against opposite walls with their arms folded and their glares focused on each other. The soldiers who had been through the anomaly were not present, but Agent Hale was seated at the table, her injured ankle propped up on a chair. 

"For those of you who chose to stay behind and make life difficult for my people in the clearing," Lester began, glaring pointedly at May who glared pointedly back, "my name is James Lester – Agent James Lester. Under the command of Director Fury, I have been working undercover at this organisation for the past five years... until today. 

"This is Matt Anderson." The fair-haired man inclined his head. "Matt is the leader of our team. This means he gives the orders and you follow them. That includes you, Agent Ward." Lester's gaze was stern as it fell on Ward, and he did not look away until Grant gave a curt nod. 

"This is Captain Becker," Lester went on. "He's a soldier with a distinguished background and the one responsible for saving both your agents today." 

"I think our agents can take care of themselves," Ward cut in. 

"Ward," Coulson said sternly. 

After a few tense moments, Lester cleared his throat and continued the introductions. After Abby Maitland and Emily Merchant had been introduced and brief job descriptions of the absent Connor Temple and Jess Parker given, Lester handed control of the conversation to Coulson. He introduced his team briefly and without incident before turning to Agent Hale. The attention of everyone at the table followed his gaze, but she spoke straight to Coulson. 

"Agent Holly Hale," she said. "I’ve been in England on an assignment for the past several weeks. While following up a lead today, I was unlucky enough to stumble into..." She waved a hand uneasily. "Whatever this is." 

"What kind of assignment?" Becker asked. 

"That's classified," the woman replied coolly. 

Becker looked to Lester with a half-despairing, half-murderous expression, but the agent, infuriatingly, would only nod. "I understand," he said crisply. "How is your injury?" 

"Sore," Hale answered with a grimace. "But I've had worse. If I'm lucky, it will be healed in a few days." 

"You've already been lucky," Lester said sternly. "A run-in with a _Carcharodontosaurus_ is something few people would survive, even with SHIELD training. My team here has the experience and the equipment necessary to deal with the anomalies and the unique problems they present. As renowned as your team may be, Agent Coulson, they do not." Ward was scowling. Coulson's face was impassive. 

"So," Lester continued, "Director Fury and I are both of the opinion that our teams should remain separate. The six of you – sorry, seven," he corrected himself, with a nod to Agent Hale, "– are free to go." 

FitzSimmons' faces fell. 

"Just like that?" Fitz demanded. "But – we helped you! May shot it down!" 

"And then broke our number one rule by running straight through an anomaly!" Becker burst out. "Lester's right; none of you have the training for this. You're putting us in danger." 

"Teach us then," Simmons said eagerly. "We want to know. Tell us everything." 

Lester cleared his throat. "Agent Simmons, this is a classified operation –" 

He was interrupted by an alarm ringing out from the speakers overhead. The members of the ARC all put a hand to their comms units. _"We've got another two,"_ Jess said, her usually-bright voice betraying just a hint of concern. _"This is unusual. I've never seen simultaneous anomalies before."_

"We're spread a little thin, Lester," Matt said cautiously. "Maybe we could...?" 

Lester stared at him for a moment, then his gaze slowly, almost reluctantly, panned over to Coulson and May. 

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Becker said flatly. 

\--- 

"Rule number one," Becker told them as he handed over the EMDs, "no lethal force." 

"I thought rule number one was no running through things," May remarked lightly. She, Coulson, and Ward were in the armoury being equipped by the irascible Captain Becker, while Skye and FitzSimmons had been relegated to standing behind Jess's shoulder and asking a billion questions. Agent Hale was recuperating in one of the medical rooms. 

Becker gritted his teeth as he closed up the cupboard that stored spare EMDs. "Listen," he said tightly, "we have very strict rules here, and very good reasons for them. If you can't abide by them, you can't be here. It's not difficult to understand." 

"Why no lethal force?" Ward demanded, testing the weight and the grip of the weapon in his hand. 

Becker locked the cupboard and gestured for the SHIELD agents to follow him. "We can't do anything that might disrupt the timeline," he explained. "We can't kill creatures. We can't keep them. We can't go through the anomaly and mess with anything on the other side. Our job is containment and clean-up. Nothing more." 

"Sounds like us," Coulson said with a nod. 

"So what do these do?" Ward asked. "What's the flashing light? Electrostatic charge? Neural disruption?" 

"They're called 'electro muscular disruptors'," Becker replied. "EMDs. Essentially oversized tasers, powered with a nuclear cell." Seeing the dubious look on Ward's face, Becker had to give a tiny smile. "I'll be honest, I didn't like the sound of them at first either. But they do work. Trust me... I found out the hard way." 

\--- 

Fitz and Simmons were in heaven. 

The central hub of the ARC was like a dream come true – and Jess Parker, bless her, was only too eager to answer their questions. After Lester had stopped by to let her know that the ARC agents were to be allowed "very temporary access" to the ADD and its history, she had managed to find three spare chairs for the excited agents to sit on as she gave her lecture. 

"So the original ADD was built by Connor Temple – you might have met him this morning," Jess was saying brightly. Despite the detail she was giving them, she clearly wasn't distracted from her job; her fingers were a blur as they flew over the keys, monitoring the anomaly sites, the comms open to any incoming messages from the team. "It's based on the principle of radio-wave monitoring. For reasons we don't quite understand, anomalies emit radio interference. This device can pinpoint the source of this interference, giving us specific coordinates in a very short space of time." 

"How'd you discover it was radio waves?" Fitz asked, his face an inch from the leftmost screen. 

For the first time, Jess hesitated. "The radio-interfering properties were discovered by Nick Cutter, the original leader of the ARC." 

Simmons swallowed. "Is he...?" 

"I never met him," Jess said quietly. "He died before I joined the team." 

Skye, Fitz and Simmons exchanged glances. "A creature?" Fitz asked nervously. 

"Actually, he was shot by his ex-wife." Before any of them could pause to process it, Jess had smoothly switched gears and was directing one of the field teams. "Becker, your anomaly is coming up. If you take the next left, it should be down the end of the street. No signs of an incursion at either site yet." She flicked the comms unit off. "Where was I? Oh, Professor Cutter. A brilliant man by all accounts. Without him we wouldn't have half of this." She gestured around at the central hub. "That reminds me – you're a biochemist, aren't you, Jemma? You absolutely _have_ to check out some of the labs here. Becker, slow up a little, you're only a few hundred metres out." 

Momentarily disoriented by the rapid change in who Jess was talking to, Simmons and Fitz glanced at each other. They shared a look of mixed emotions – excitement and curiosity prevailed, but there was a slight element of caution underneath. Skye, who was struggling to get past the "shot by his ex-wife" part, kept her eyes on the screens. 

A high-resolution image showed Becker's car pulling up to the anomaly site. The ARC and SHIELD team had split themselves up – Becker led Coulson and Ward, while May accompanied Abby, Emily, and Matt. Becker's team had been assigned to an anomaly that had opened up on an empty tennis court, while Matt's team had the slightly trickier location of a civilian's house. 

"We don't usually have three anomalies at once," Jess told them. "Becker doesn't like to split up the team. He's very protective of them." 

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" 

"Oh yes." Her eyes on the screen, Jess was oblivious to Skye's smirk. "He really does care. He wouldn't want you to know it, but under all the guns and the black vest, he's a big softy. Well, not _literally_ soft, his muscles are quite well defined – not that I would know, of course, I'm just speculating..." 

Even Fitz and Simmons had cottoned on by now. Her cheeks the same colour as her obnoxiously pink fingernails, Jess cleared her throat and turned her full attention to the field teams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost a full year since I've updated, but it's finally here! I'm very rusty on my AoS lore (and haven't seen past the end of season 1! No spoilers!), so please call me out on any glaring errors! 
> 
> I hope I can get another update up soon, but I can't make any promises. Hope you enjoy in any case :)


End file.
